In one week in the middle of May, three prominent high school football players told the world that they plan to play their college ball at Alabama.

They're not alone.

It's not even Memorial Day, and the reigning na­tional champions have com­mitments from 14 high school prospects in the class of 2013. If they stick to their word, Alabama's more than halfway to the SEC cap of 25 signees, and that's not even the highest total in the country.

Michigan has 18 commit­ments.

Florida and Georgia each have 16.

Texas A&M, enjoying an SEC bounce before its first official day as a new mem­ber of the conference, has 15.

All those commitments, and practically speaking, not one of them is worth the paper they're not printed on.

The recruiting process in college football has been ac­celerated at a dizzying rate everywhere but where it counts. On the dotted line.

You can commit when­ever you like, and more players are doing it earlier than ever, but that commit­ment carries less weight than most place-kickers. You still can't put it in writ­ing and make it binding un­til February of your senior year.

It's time to adjust to the times and change the cal­endar. College football needs an early signing period more than ever.

Make it the last week of July and the first week of August, before high schools and colleges start fall practice. Let prospects put an end to the recruiting process if they're done with it. Give them an escape clause that lets them change their mind if the head coach is gone by signing day in February, and everybody wins.

Flip-flops make headlines, but more often than not, a player that commits to a school signs with that school. Reducing the lag time between committing and signing should allow the prospects to focus on their senior years and the colleges to concentrate on uncommitted prospects.

Kevin Scarbinsky is a columnist for The Birmingham News. His column is published on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

It doesn't work that way now, which means the system doesn't work as well as it could or should. High school players that commit in May don't always grasp what awaits them between now and February.

Bateman, one of the top quarterback prospects in this class out of Utah, made that misunderstanding clear in an interview with ESPN.com.

"It is a relief, to be honest, to have the whole recruitment process behind you and to have a decision made and having no regrets with your decision," he said. "It's a relief."

Bateman's feelings are perfectly logical, rational, reasonable and understandable. If only they were an accurate reflection of reality.

Truth is, the whole recruitment process isn't behind Bateman, Page, Allen or anyone else who's already committed to Alabama, Auburn or any other school. With almost nine months left until signing day, a large chunk of their recruitment process is still ahead.

They may have made a decision. They may have no regrets with their decision. They may have every intention of sticking with their decision all the way to signing day.

But what about the schools they didn't choose? Not all of them are going to honor that decision. Not all of them are going to thank those players for their consideration and move on.

Some of the schools that swung and missed at Bateman and the rest are likely to keep swinging. After all, what do they have to lose?

One recent example: A week before Bateman committed to Alabama, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, head coach Nick Saban spent 90 minutes on a Skype video chat with Brice Ramsey, a quarterback prospect from Georgia.

They visited even though Ramsey had committed to Georgia last summer.

Mark Richt will have to continue to recruit Ramsey, just as Saban will have to keep recruiting Bateman, Page, Allen and the rest because other coaches won't stop.

There's only one way to stop that, and that's with an early signing period.